Kia Carens 2003: MOT failure rate for its age

63.2% of 620 MOT tests of the Kia Carens first registered in 2003 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 107.9 (95% CI 97.2–118.5; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2003 build year is no different from other years of the same model at the same age. This is a rough estimate from a smaller sample.

Kia Carens built in 2003 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	63.2	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	620
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 97.2–118.5)	107.9	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	620
Rank among this model's 17 build years	12	of 17	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	620
Tested in 2024	56	tests	median 70,214 miles	2024	56

Built 2003 against Kia Carens normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 16: 63.5% vs 61.6%; age 17: 62.8% vs 53.4%; age 18: 58.7% vs n/a%; age 19: 60.8% vs n/a%; age 20: 50.6% vs n/a%; age 21: 46.4% vs n/a%. Axis from 0% to 70%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2003 Kia Carens by registration · All Kia Carens MOT statistics · Download the build-year table (CSV)

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · full dataset (v5).

How does the 2003 Kia Carens fail at each age?

Cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21 between 2019 and 2024. Each row compares their first-time failure share with what this model normally shows at that age, after allowing for the overall failure level of each test year.

Kia Carens built 2003: first-time MOT failure by age, against the model's normal rate at that age (2019–2024)
Age	Tests	Failed, %	95% interval	Normal for this model at that age, %	Index (100 = normal)
16	397 (rough estimate)	63.5	58.6–68.1	61.6	103.1
17	223 (rough estimate)	62.8	56.3–68.9	53.4	117.6
18	167 (rough estimate)	58.7	51.1–65.9	not available	not available
19	120 (rough estimate)	60.8	51.9–69.1	not available	not available
20	79 (rough estimate)	50.6	39.8–61.4	not available	not available
21	56 (rough estimate)	46.4	34–59.3	not available	not available

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,042 (initial tests) · Method: normal rate = this model's first-time failure share at that age across its build years (cells of 400+ tests), adjusted for each test year's overall level; cells of 30+ tests, under 500 marked rough · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

What fails most on the 2003 Kia Carens?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2003 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 65.8 items per 100 first tests, against 21 across all build years of the Kia Carens. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Kia Carens built 2003 against the Kia Carens in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2003, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	65.8	21	686
Brakes	62.4	25.7	650
Body, chassis, structure	56.9	6.5	593
Suspension	41.5	16.6	432
Visibility	18.5	9.6	193

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,042 (initial tests of this build year) · Method: failure items grouped by DVSA's top-level defect groups, per 100 initial tests; groups with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How does 2003 compare with the years around it?

Among the 17 published build years of the Kia Carens, 2003 ranks 12 (1 = fails least for its age). 2004: index 108.7.

Kia Carens build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
2003	107.9	97.2–118.5	no different (rough estimate)	620
2004	108.7	101.3–116.2	worse (rough estimate)	1,297
2005	112.1	106.1–118.1	worse (rough estimate)	2,094
2006	107.6	103.2–112.0	worse (rough estimate)	3,828
2007	100.2	96.6–103.7	no different	5,719
2008	99.0	96.4–101.7	no different	10,063
2009	97.7	94.9–100.5	no different	9,597
2010	94.5	89.0–100.1	no different (rough estimate)	2,555
2011	109.0	102.7–115.2	worse (rough estimate)	2,584
2012	122.3	109.1–135.4	worse (rough estimate)	719
2013	94.3	90.8–97.8	better	8,634
2014	98.8	95.7–101.8	no different	13,519
2015	97.8	94.5–101.1	no different	13,117
2016	97.7	93.9–101.5	no different	10,767
2017	100.0	95.8–104.2	no different	9,733
2018	102.8	97.5–108.0	no different	6,621
2019	123.6	94.6–152.5	no different (rough estimate)	279

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 101,746 (initial tests) · Method: observed failures against those expected for the same model at the same ages, test-year level adjusted; verdict follows the printed one-decimal bound · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How to cite this page

MOT Risk Index (2026). Kia Carens 2003 MOT statistics (data release dvsa-2024-v2; full dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22975051), updated 30 September 2026. motriskindex.co.uk/cars/kia-carens/2003/

How every figure is calculated: methodology. Age, test year and build year are tied together (age = test year − build year), so the test-year level is taken as observed, not estimated.

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